Falcons Survive and Advance to Cleveland with a 70-69 Win at Kent State

Monday, March 7

Kent, Ohio

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

15-17

Kent State (First Round)

19-13

Bowling Green

Kent State

Photo by: Christine Nelson, BGSU Marketing & Communications

Falcons Survive and Advance to Cleveland with a 70-69 Win at Kent State

March 07, 2016 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: by Kevin Davis, Assistant Director for Athletic Communications

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      1st half - Alcegare three opens the scoring
                        Worrell fade away jumper
                      Joseph steal leads to Alcegaire layup
                        Parker layup off the pass from Joseph
                        Parker drains the corner three-ball
       2nd half - Lillard three-pointer part of 11-0 run
                      Wiggins blocked shot leads to Lillard basket
                      Parker trey from the top of the key
                      Joseph leans in for the bucket
                      Lillard near TO leads to basket
                      Lillard steal & save to Tisdale
                      Final Call as BG defeats KSU
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Kent, Ohio – The Bowling Green State University Falcons became just the third No. 12 seed to win its first round Mid-American Conference (MAC) Men's Basketball Championship Tournament game on Monday night, as the visiting Falcons upended the No. 5 seeded Kent State Golden Flashes 70-69 at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio.

With the win, the Falcons (15-17) survive and advance to Cleveland for the quarterfinals on Thursday, Mar. 10. BGSU will take on No. 4 Central Michigan at 2 p.m. at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Falcons shot 54 percent (27-of-50) overall for the game, their second straight game shooting over 50 percent from the field as a team, and outscored the Golden Flashes 30-18 in points in the paint and 12-4 in fast break points.

The BGSU defense held All-MAC First-Team member Jimmy Hall to just six points and four rebounds, as the Kent State leading scorer was 2-of-10 from the floor overall and coughed up the ball four times.

Senior Spencer Parker led the Falcons with a game-high 18 points, as he was 6-of-11 shooting overall for the game. Junior guard Wes Alcegaire went 5-of-10 overall from the field to tally 14 points to go with five rebounds, while freshman Antwon Lillard poured in 13 points and hauled in five rebounds in his first career start as a Falcon.

Fellow BGSU starter Demajeo Wiggins pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while senior guard David Joseph passed out a game-high six assists in 27 minutes of play.

Kent State's Kellon Thomas and Chris Ortiz each finished with 18 points, while Thomas passed out a team-high five assists and Ortiz hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds in the loss. Guard Galal Cancer added 10 points, four assists and four rebounds in 38 minutes of play on the night.

The first half saw a series of runs with Kent State using a 7-0 spurt early in the contest to take a 12-5 lead over the Falcons with 14:48 to go in the first half of play.

BGSU answered with a baseline runner from Zack Denny to end the Kent State run and jump-start an 8-0 surge by the visitors in orange to pull back out in front by one at 13-12 on a jumper from Alcegaire with 10:32 to go before the halftime break.

However, it was Kent State's turn for a run once again minutes later, as the Golden Flashes responded with another 7-0 run, highlighted by a three-pointer from Cancer at the 8:38 mark, to propel the home team back on top by six at 19-13.

The two teams then traded baskets over the next three minutes to put Kent State up 27-19, when the BGSU defense transitioned to offense with back-to-back layups from Parker and JD Tisdale, followed by four more points from Parker, to cap off an 8-0 sprint by the visitors to tie the game up once again at 27-27.

The final four minutes of the first half would see the Golden Flashes outscore BGSU 12-5 to take a seven-point lead at 39-32 into the halftime intermission.

Not ready for their season to come to an end, the Falcons stormed out of the locker room to open up the second half on an 11-0 run, highlighted by six points from Lillard, to fly out to a four-point lead over the Golden Flashes at 43-39 with just under 17 minutes to go in the contest.

An offensive rebound and tip-in basket from Lillard at the 16:42 mark would be the last field goal for the Falcons for over the next 4:24, yet the BGSU defense was able to keep the visitors in the game by holding Kent State without a field goal until the 13:30 mark of the second period.

Kent State was able to put together back-to-back buckets by Ortiz to put the home team back in front by one at 46-45 with 12:43 to go in the game.

A jump hook on the left block by Rasheed Worrell started a back-and-forth series with the Golden Flashes as the two teams traded points, before a trey from the top of the key from Parker at the 10:45 mark of the second period gave the Falcons a five-point lead at 52-47.

Playing in front of their home crowd, the Golden Flashes battled back to tie the game up at 54-54 and again at 56-56, before a three-pointer from the left wing by Thomas gave the home team a 59-58 lead with 6:21 to play in the MAC Tournament contest.

The two teams would swap the lead four more times over the next three minutes of play, as BGSU answered every Kent State bucket with a basket of its own until a bank shot from Lillard broke a 62-62 tie and put the visitors on top once again at 64-62 with 3:10 left on the game clock.

Following a Wiggins' free throw, Kent State got a jumper in the lane from Ortiz to trim the BGSU lead to one at 65-64 with just under two minutes to go in regulation.

The two defenses would both come up big for both teams for the next few offensive series until a BGSU stop and a defensive rebound with a 65-64 lead forced Kent State to foul with 32 seconds left in the game.

BGSU's Joseph missed the front end of a 1-and-1 to give the Golden Flashes life. However, Kent State would throw the ball out of bounds to give it right back to the Falcons with 20 seconds to go.

On the inbounds pass, after a BGSU timeout, the Golden Flashes fouled Parker to send him to the free throw line where the senior calmly stepped up and knocked down both shots from the line to push the Falcons' lead to three at 67-64 with 16.2 to go in the game.

A BGSU foul on the Kent State offensive possession sent Thomas to the free throw line for the home team, where he sank both from the charity stripe to put Kent State back within one at 67-66 with 12 seconds remaining.

With the one-point lead, BGSU forced Kent State to foul them again, as Alcegaire drained two more free throws for the Orange and Brown to keep the No. 12 seed in front by three at 69-66 with just over 10 seconds left.

On the next Kent State possession, Lillard deflected a Thomas pass and Tisdale chased down the loose ball before getting fouled with under two seconds to go in regulation.

Shooting two shots, Tisdale missed the first free throw, but make the second to seal the win and extend the Falcons' lead to four at 70-66.

A last second three-pointer from Ortiz would go in as the final horn sounded to put the final score at 70-69 in favor of the Falcons.

BGSU held Kent State to just 39.3 percent shooting (22-of-56) overall and held the Golden Flashes without a made field goal for the first 6:30 of the second half of play.

The Falcons also outscored Kent State 14-8 in points off turnovers, as the Golden Flashes turned the ball over 11 times, while BGSU committed only nine turnovers in the 40 minute contest.

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Notes

BGSU became just the third No. 12 seed to win its first round game in the MAC Tournament (2002 & 2012).
The win snapped a three-game losing streak to the Golden Flashes.
BGSU also snapped a three-game losing streak to Kent State in MAC Championship Tournament play with the win.
The Falcons improved to 2-6 all-time on the road in MAC Championship Tournament action.
The win snaps an overall three-game losing streak for the Falcons.
BGSU has now advanced to Cleveland and past the first round of the MAC Championship Tournament in each of the last two years.
The Falcons improve to 2-0 on the year when playing on Mondays.
With their 12 assists, the Falcons have passed out double digit assists as a team in nine straight games.
With their 54 percent field goal percentage for the game, the Falcons have shot 50 percent or better in each of the last two contests and in four of its last six games.
Spencer Parker's 18 points gives him 1,145 career points as a Falcon moving him up to 31st overall on BGSU's all-time career scoring list.
BGSU improved to 14-4 overall on the season when scoring 70 points or more for the game.
The Falcons have now shot over 44 percent in all 15 of their wins on the season.
The win is the first win for the Falcons for the month of March.
Antwon Lillard made his first career start as a Falcon in the win on Monday night.